The Tour to Livingstone

by Adrien Mweene, Kalomo High School Pupil 2008

[ed note: as is common with Zambians, Rich & Sue are called Mr. & Mrs. Richard! We were called, Mr. & Mrs. Bill. I have not edited Adrien's report.]

It was during this 3rd term when Mr. and Mrs. Richard promised all the grade 12’s who are sponsored by ZMF-C a tour to Livingstone. They immediately started organizing for the tour. They first talked to the headmaster at Kalomo High School so that he could allow the pupils to go for a tour. Mr. Muhali the headmaster was not all that tough and he allowed the pupils to go for a tour. Now there a problem of transport. It took about 3 weeks for Mr. and Mrs. Richard to find transport.

On 25the October 2008, just after celebrating our Independence on the past day, we started our long waited journey which at last came. We started round 06:00 hours with the Namwianga bus. I could see that most people in the bus smiling because most of them had never had a chance to see Livingstone and therefore this offer was a real inspiration in their life. We had Mr. Moono as our driver who drove us with the all the best care he had. On our way to Livingstone we had a few songs. Most of the songs which the pupils sang were in Tonga and that was somehow a problem to Mr. and Mrs. Richard who had started learning the language although they were not so good at speaking it. Anyway I saw the smiles on their face which showed that they enjoyed the songs.

When we reached Zimba we stopped to get another pail there but unfortunately the boys was no where to be seen. We left with out the boy san continued on our journey. The road form Zimba to Livingstone is terribly band and Mr. Moono had to drive at the least speed. We reached Livingstone around 10:00 hours. The first place we went to was the Mosi - o Tunya National Park. We saw a lot of animals like hippos in the Zambezi River. Impalas, chimpanzee, monkeys, giraffes. We were lucky we had a chance to see the zebra and a warthog. We were unfortunate in that we had no chance to see the elephants or Rhinos because we were late.

We had our breakfast around 12:00 hours in the park and after the breakfast in the part we started off for the Victoria Falls where we had a lot of fun there as well. The last part we saw at the Victoria Falls was the “boiling point”. From the boiling point it was somehow tough for the girls (including Mrs. Richard!) to make the climb to the top because they were tired.

From the Victoria Falls we went to the Crocodile Farm. We leant a lot of things about crocodiles. We learned their names and how they were given those names. We learned about how to avoid getting harmed by crocodiles. Then we went to see the snakes. There were different types of snakes and we learned about how poisonous they are to people. We also learned about the places they could be found.

At last we went to Spar and it was there that Mr. and Mrs. Richard bought us lunch. We then went to the airport but we were unfortunate to find that all the planes had already left. We took our lunch there and a few pupils cold not mange to eat the food that was prepared (submarine sandwiches – but no fear in a group of teenagers – there was not a bite left!). After lunch we went and got ice cream cones. The ice-cream was also new to a few pupils, but anyway they enjoyed themselves!

Finally we were on our way coming back to school. We travelled safely and we reached school around 19:00 hours. We thank Mr. and Mrs. Richard for all they had done to us. We had really enjoying living with them. A life without them will be hard. May God bless them in everything they do.

Mvwula

Mvwula–a Tonga name that when translated means rain! Rain means wealth for a dry parched country.

Mvwula is a brilliant and very humble grade 11 sponsored student and without a doubt, he is a blessing to his classmates and to this sponsorship program. He consistently is the highest scoring student we have at this time. He is a double orphan with two brothers. He has been raised by his very wise and humble aunt. She has eight children of her own.

At the young age of 18 years Mvwula has acquired some very mature life perspectives. It is my observation that childhood is shorter in Zambia–difficult circumstances mature kids early. He writes that sometimes people misunderstand one another (how perceptive!) and he has learned from his aunt that at those times people need to come together and discuss the matter! He says he is so grateful that in the big family that he’s grown up in that none of the members has an unforgiving spirit or vengeance. What a blessing for this boy! He also writes that there are times in this big family when one could feel neglected. But then he goes on to explain that things do not always happen as we would like them to—imagine that!

Mvwula’s poem
Children of the World

We–the children of the world–we are the children of today. Tomorrow belongs to us. To us alone it belongs. Let us have a stake in the decisions that affect our tomorrow.

We are the children. Have pity on our plight. In this pitiless world we need shelter, we need food, and we need education. Above all, we need love, patience and care and comfort.

We are the children of the world, and leaders of tomorrow. Why do you freeze our future and deny us of our childhood, national heritage and fruits of development? Why do you turn us into refugees in alien lands? Oh why?

You multinationals–you damage the environment for your present leisure against our future pleasure. See all the deforestation and hunger that you’ve caused by your mining activities! By throwing our parents out of jobs you’ve created great trouble to us. Because you shot down free education, free medical care and access to clean water. And AIDS has killed our breadwinners.

You turned us onto the streets. Many of us have ended up on the garbage heaps of drugs. Some of us have turned into prostitutes and street vendors, in order to escape the tortures of the remote-control led world.

Tomorrow belongs to a new generation, so leave our portion undefiled if you truly believe in sustainable development. You waste billions of money for betterment of your pleasure. Be involved in shaping our future pleasure. Be equitable. Share the goodies.

Help us–the children of today. Tomorrow belongs to us.

Mvwula H (grade 11 pupil at Namwianga Christian Secondary School, Zambia)

Thanks from Simakakata

Yesterday we paid a visit to Simakakata with your gift of seed and fertilizer! We brought along a few of our sponsored secondary students so they could join in and witness the sharing from the Canadians–actually the sharing from God!

Your generosity was extremely overwhelming and was received with much gratitude. The photos show the members of this mostly blind community kneeling before God in prayer–extreme gratitude. They will be able to eat maize next March or April. Praise God! We are rather sheltered from world news here, but the occasional peak at Yahoo.com informs us that world economic instability is headline news. Nonetheless, God will provide and it is good to share no matter how much we have. Thank you for sharing.

The rainy season is upon us and every day there are showers of blessings for this land! Sometimes the showers are heavy downpours with magnificent thunder and lightning displays. Monday we had 38 mm here, while at the farm it was over 50 mm. Today there are light sporadic showers. At the moment Richard is out at Katungu with the DYNA that has windshield wiper problems. I'm catching up on spreadsheets and computer stuff and preparing for this evening's farewell party for Secondary Students. It would be a bonus if ZESCO keeps the power on for at least a few more hours!

Meet Lucky

Lucky was born October 10, 1988! That means Lucky has recently had his twentieth birthday! Lucky is in grade 10 at Namwianga Christian Secondary School, a boarding school of about 400 students. He is extremely grateful for sponsorship. Getting a place in a boarding school has been an exceedingly difficult journey for Lucky.

Why is Lucky twenty years old and only in grade 10? Lack of finances is the main reason. He is a smart young man and is in good health. He started school at the age of eight. He tried very hard to get good marks. Zambian students must score above a certain cut off point at grade 7 and again in grade 9 in order to continue their education. When Lucky wrote his grade 9 exams the first time he missed the cut off point by a few points so he had to go back to school for two years. Then he re-wrote the grade 9 exams—this time he was successful.

Passing the grade 9 exams is a big accomplishment for many Zambian children, especially village children. Daily these kids face many obstacles e.g. not enough textbooks, paper, or pens, the teachers may not show up for a day or three (there are no substitute teachers), the child may be without food for a few days—as in the case of Lucky’s family, or the distance may be too long to walk to school every day.

Lucky passed the cut off point for grade 9 in 2006, but was forced to remain at home because he could not afford to pay for his secondary school education. To find money to pay for his school fees the following year Lucky grew cabbages and tomatoes and found odd jobs (piece work) at a tobacco farm. Piece work is usually very physically hard work and pays very little money.

He applied to ZMF-C in May 2006, but because of applying late in the year there were no places available at the school he qualified for. Then in November 2007, Lucky came to us and applied for scholarship and a place was given to him at NCSS for 2008.

Lucky is one of the story-writing students. He shares honestly and humbly about his life, his struggles and his joys! He has lots of grit, determination and a very strong character. He is a delight and an encouragement. Every Sunday Lucky comes to water the garden—the job takes about two hours because we don’t have a great watering system. I am grateful for the hard work he does, Today we shared juice and biscuits afterwards!

Lucky is the son of a polygamist. His mom, the first wife, had eight children and Lucky is the second born. The second wife has five children. One of the huge problems with polygamy is that the parents often cannot support educational costs for all the children. Lucky says he will not be a polygamist because it causes problems like hunger and lack of schooling for the children. He says for the problem of hunger he asks God every day for help. Lucky has a strong faith and he asks God to help him in his education, to help his family at home and also others that have problems. He asks for God’s guidance as he goes step by step in his life and he asks that God guide him to be a humble person who will help others in this world.

It is my privilege and by God’s design that I know Lucky. I am blessed!

Kelvin in Kalowa

Yesterday, after we had finished our work in the field with our sponsored students ,I had the job of driving to Kalowa village to take Kelvin, one of our HIV patients, to an AIDS hospice in Choma. (The photo is of Kelvin’s family. Phinneas on the left is with Kelvin in Choma right now and the little girl with the scarf on her head is Kelvin’s daughter.)

Kalowa is quite remote and Richard was busy with other responsibilities, so, I borrowed Timmy and Brivery (a couple of secondary school students) for the day, as backup power to ensure that if any difficulties ensued, I would have a couple of Tonga-speaking guys to assist me! I had made arrangements (via texting on the cell phone) for Stanley (the community health care worker) to meet us at Katungu and accompany us to Kalowa.

First I needed to drive to Katungu, a twenty-minute drive down a red sandy rocky road into the bush country of Africa. It’s a beautiful drive. About half way to Katungu you descend into a valley where many varieties of green acacia trees, cactus and other African bush thrive. It is not lush, because it is the dry season, but it is green, something that baffles me because it hasn’t rained since March! Once at Katungu I find out that Stanley has not received my text message so he’s still in his village—some distance from Katungu. No problem, the deputy headmaster says he’ll go find Stanley out in the bush while I strike off on my own with my trusty secondary boys —who have never been past Katungu—to find Kalowa.

No one in the bush has a vehicle so there are no roads, only short cuts on paths that resemble cattle paths. I knew part of the way there so I drove until I came to the farm of the Mwaata Headmaster. The farm is a small cluster of mud rondavel shacks and maize bins. There I found a boy who could show me the path that the nurses drive on their monthly outreaches to Kalowa. You go to the right here, down across the river over there, up the bank over there, pass the bore hole and finally you come to another little settlement of mud huts in the middle of a bare dusty clearing.

Kelvin (then aged thirty-six) was diagnosed with HIV in 2005 and, shortly after the diagnosis was confirmed, suffered a stroke. He has been on ARV medication since 2006. Recently, his family have been having great difficulty taking care of his basic needs. My nurse friend, Tebia, reported that he had really deteriorated so I decided to make arrangements to have him spend a few weeks at a very well run AIDS hospice in Choma if the family would agree. The family agreed, so after the mom and the two sisters-in-law bathed Kelvin behind a bush at the compound, we were on our way to Choma.

After coming out off the bush road, you meet the paved road to Choma going north and Livingstone going south. I’d rather drive in the bush than on the tarmac road in Zambia. The narrow lanes and big trucks are too scary for me. But, the sweet distraction of singing Tonga songs in the front of the truck made the trip quite a bit less stressful. Kelvin and his brother Phinneas rode quietly in the back.

The doctor met us at the hospice and then Kelvin had another bath—this time in a bath tub—assisted by Stanley. Kelvin is very thin from neglect and needs a several weeks to bulk up. His brother Phinneas will stay with him for a few days and then I’ve made arrangements for the mom to stay. Before we left, Kelvin gave me a wee bit of a smile (he’s aphasic from the stroke) and Stanley led us in prayer as we gathered around Kelvin’s bed.

I gave mom and Phinneas enough money from the HIV fund for food for the two weeks and my cell number so they can call if more help is needed. We are out of the country for about ten days but when I return, the nurses, the family, and I will try to sketch out a better discharge plan for him.

The trip home was spent singing again and reviewing grade 12 subjects that Brivery will be tested on this coming week. It was a long day, but we are so grateful that the hospice in Choma had a bed for Kelvin and that the family were in agreement with this plan!

Please keep Kelvin and family in your prayers!

Love to all,
Sue

PS: We didn’t get lost and the vehicle performed marvellously!